Quality of life of older adults participating in community groups in the Brazilian Western Amazon: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective To compare the quality of life of older adult participants and non-participants of community groups in a region of the Brazilian Western Amazon. Method An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 424 older adult users of the Family Health Strategy were included. Data collection was performed using a sociodemographic questionnaire and the WHOQOL-BREF and WHOQOL-OLD scales for measuring quality of life by the World Health Organization. Participants were stratified according to participation in 3 different community groups: Group 1: physical exercise group; Group 2: physical exercise and health education group; Group 3: religious activities and/or community association group; and non-participants in community groups. The chi-square and multinomial regression tests were used to compare quality of life (QoL) among the groups. A 5% level of significance was adopted. Results The sample had a mean age of 69.86 years, community group participation of 44.22%, and predominance of females (66.75%). There was a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) in QoL between community group participants and non-participants. Group 1: Psychological (OR=0.21); Environment (OR=0.16; OR=0.21) and Social Participation (OR= 0.35) domains. Group 2: Environment (OR=0.29; OR=0.19); Autonomy (OR=0.12; OR=0.26); Past, Present and Future Activities (OR=0.44); Social Participation (OR=0.27) and General Score (OR=0.46) domains. Group 3: Environment (OR=0.31); Autonomy (OR=0.56) and Social Participation (OR=0.10; OR=0.47) domains. Conclusion Participation in community groups was associated with better QoL score, confirming that social engagement confers important benefits for health and QoL and contributes to healthy aging.